Avoiding Intuitive Blackjack Mistakes When Playing Pontoon

Pontoon is a game that a lot of blackjack players get involved with because it has similar rules and usually falls under the same section as blackjack in online casinos. However, the similarities are only superficial, and it’s a very different game that requires much different strategies than what you might initially suspect. In fact, if you try to play a typical, intuitive blackjack game with pontoon, then chances are that you’re going to make an overwhelming number of mistakes. We want to point out the key strategic differences in pontoon and show you what you can do to avoid these mistakes.

The first key difference in this game is that the dealer does not have an up card. Because of this, you have to play towards the weighted average of the cards, and this means that you will want to be a little less aggressive with vulnerable hard hands. However, you can’t stand unless you have at least 15, so that simplifies a lot of decisions that would have otherwise been difficult with hard 13s and 14s. The second key difference is that getting five cards (regardless of the total) gives you a very strong hand that only loses to a pontoon (a natural 21, like a blackjack in blackjack games).

Here’s a good way that these differences manifest themselves. Suppose you have A34 after hitting with two cards. You now have a soft 18, so should you hit or double? In this game, you should actually hit instead of doubling. Note you can double on any number of cards, but you can only double once per hand. The reason you should hit is that almost any card you get will give you a strong chance to double with four cards, so it doesn’t make sense to double now and commit yourself to that outcome.

With hard hands, you’ll want to double sometimes early on. If you have a hard 10 or 11 with two cards, you’ll always want to double. With three cards, you’ll also want to double when you have a nine. Any hard total of 16 and lower will be a time to double with a hard hand, and it’s hard to imagine blackjack players wanting to double with a hard 16. This is the type of anti-intuitive play that sees blackjack players making huge mistakes over and over again.